EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY WITH THE LORD

One day, very early in the morning, I was unable to go back to sleep because I was thinking about a project I was working on. I decided to look at the clock to see what time it was and the clock said 3:16. I immediately thought of John 3:16. That started me thinking about another project. How about time reminding me of different Bible verses in the Bible.

HOW IT WORKS

Using the 24 hour clock system, like the military does, plan to have a scripture verse cover every minute of the day. Any time between 1300 and 1313 could remind you of the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. 0610 thru 0617 might remind you of Ephesians 6:10-17, "The Armor of God". Be creative. For instance 0910 could be given to Psalm 91. Remember each verse gets a minute. So if you like all of Psalm 91, the time slot between 0910 and 0916 would be used. Some scriptures, of course, could be challenging. The familiar Psalm 27:1 for example. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid"? (KJV) There is no time slot that fits that scripture. At the same time, there is no scripture in the Bible that can fill in 23:58 (the time on the cover). You may want to assign scriptures that have no corresponding time slots to time slots that have no corresponding scriptures.

HOW IT'S DONE

Get a sheet of paper. Start by putting your favorite scriptures in the time slots that would be the closest to the location of those scriptures in the Bible and record them on the paper. If some of your favorite scriptures have similar locations, put your most favorite in the time slot. You could use the same time slot for both scriptures or choose another slot. If you cannot find a time slot that works for a scripture's location because of its numbers be creative. Once you have given all of your favorite scriptures a time slot, find some new ones to fill in some more slots. Don't forget the early morning time slots. You may find yourself unable to go back to sleep and the scriptures the clock is reminding you of may help to calm your sprit. It may not be a bad idea to assign soothing scriptures to those time slots. Over time you may have your whole day filled with scripture.

It may take some time to get all of the slots filled but it will be worth it. There are 1440 minutes in a day. That means you have the potential of memorizing almost as many verses found in Matthew (1070) and 1 Corinthians (437) combined (1507).

Now, if trying to memorize 1440 verses seems rather intimidating, use the time to remind yourself of some of your favorite parables. For example, 1030 to 1037 could remind you of Luke 10:30-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan. Oh by the way, if 1030 to 1037 is taken you could use 2234-2240 or 1228-1231 (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-31). They also contain the same parable.

If you want to remember prophecies, 0501-0504 could remind you of Micah 5:1-4, the prophecy of the birth of Jesus. If you are interested in history, 1701-1754 could be used for 1 Samuel 17:1-54, the story of David and Goliath.

HAVE FUN

So the next time you look at your watch or cell phone for the time and after you say "Oh I'm late!", think of the corresponding scripture that is related to that time slot and repeat it. You know you will be checking the time often while waiting in a doctor's office. What a good time to practice saying the corresponding scriptures or remembering the story associated with that time slot. And when you are unable to go back to sleep and you check the clock to see just how dadgum early it is, try repeating the scripture in that time slot.

Mix and match the minutes of the day with scripture. Remember, the Lord spends 1440 minutes a day with you. Now is your chance to spend 1440 minutes a day with the Lord.

I hope you enjoy spending every minute of the day with the Lord. May God bless you in all that you do. GWB

HOW TO USE YOUR TIME

What you just finished reading was a pamphlet I wrote earlier this year with the same title of this journal. I refer to it as a journal because it will become a record of how you spend every minute of the day with the Lord. After I wrote the pamphlet, I discovered that I had no place to write down the passages and verses in an organized way. I also discovered two additional things. First, there are passages that do not have a time period that will work such as Psalm 91. And second, you can spend every minute of the day with the Lord without having a verse in a time slot.

As the result of these discoveries I decided to publish this time journal that you might consider using, not only to record your Bible verses, but also the other times you spend with the Lord. For example, you may have a certain time of the day you do your personal Bible study and devotion. Put that in the time period provided in this journal. Your prayer time can also be put in the appropriate time period. You also may have a time reserved for your family to be together like at dinner. Put that in a time period. You don't need to be exact, just put the approximate time period.

Another use for this journal could be to record other wonderful moments in your life. For example, most parents are aware of the hour and minute their children are born. Put the child's name and date of their birth by the appropriate time. You may want to put your grandchild's date of birth by the appropriate time. For the time of your wedding, put "Wedding" and the year in that time period. You don't have to put the day on any special moment just the time and date so it can remind you of the blessings the Lord has provided you.

This is your journal. It is not a diary. It is to help keep the Lord in focus as you go through your day. There will be bad days and good days. We all know that. This journal is for those good TIMES. To make you aware of all the Lord does provide for you. When you are down read your Bible to be uplifted and you might want to refer to your journal also.

There is something else you may want to consider. When you go to be with the Lord, this journal cannot go with you so one of your relatives may end up with it. What a wonderful keepsake this is for them. They can show their children what Bible verses you liked and what events in your life you held dear. In short, it tells them how you spent every minute of the day with the Lord. It may also give them the idea to start their own journal.

So the next time you are waiting for a flight early in the morning, or at the DMV or VA waiting to be served, understand you WILL look at the time. Let it remind you of a Bible verse or a special event or moment in your life. It will have a calming effect and it will remind you that the Lord IS with you every minute of the day.

Two final thoughts: First, I was asked about how long I thought a person might take to fill up this journal. I answered by saying "It is one day in a person's life that will take a lifetime to complete." Second, when you reach that point in life where you are no longer able to maintain your journal, you may want to ask the person who has your journal to make one last entry for you. That entry would be the time you went to be with the Lord.

May you be blessed spending every minute of the day with the Lord.